Curated OER
What We Eat, Where We Sleep: Documenting Daily Life to Tell Stories
This is not just a New York Time article to read, this is a set of amazing activity ideas all related to the slide shows "Breaking Bread Everywhere" and "Where Children Sleep." Your class can view each show, read about what they mean...
Curated OER
My Culture
In this culture instructional activity, students answer ten short-answer questions about their own culture then write about the major cultural influences in their lives.
Curated OER
United We Stand
Students study Muslim wedding celebrations. They explore Muslim culture and wedding celebrations around the world. Students discuss vows, symbols, and traditions. They create wedding costumes and reenact part of a wedding ceremony.
Curated OER
Middle-East Reflections
Practice symmetry and patterns with this Mid-Eastern art project. Your class will create beautiful, reflective mosaics that will brighten up the classroom! A list of necessary materials is included.
Curated OER
Shirin Neshat
Students research the life of an artist to make a comprehensive analysis of works and how they were formed through personal beliefs of the artist. The influence upon culture is the focus of the investigation to be conducted.
Curated OER
God Fights Back
Learners view a television program tracing religious fundamentalism in Iran and the United States. They participate in a discussion exploring the similarities of fundamentalism in different religions and cultures and outline the goals...
Global Oneness Project
Our Shared Humanity
Ann Shin's award-winning documentary, My Enemy, My Brother introduces viewers to Zahed Haftlang and Najah Aboud, two child soldiers on opposite sides during the Iran-Iraq war. After viewing the film, class members are asked to...
Curated OER
English Cognates in Various Indo-European Languages
Studying the history, influences, and cognates of the English language, this presentation provides students in linguistics and language classes with several charts of information on cognates from languages around the world. The slideshow...
National First Ladies' Library
Stories from the Thousand and One Nights
Students hold a Thousand and One Nights storytelling festival with each one memorizing a story to relate to classmates. While examining provided resource links, they select and practice a story they would like to retell. As a dress...
Curated OER
Folklife Around the Year and Around the State
Research how seasonal changes in Louisiana affect learners' lives and the folklife of their communities and the state. They investigate differences in the seasonal round in the regions of Louisiana, including celebrations, festivals,...
Curated OER
Built to Last
Students explore architectural elements of ancient buildings. In groups, they research famous structures. Students write an opinion paper examining the debate over whether or not ancient monuments should be maintained or rebuilt after a...
Curated OER
Arab Americans: In the Aftermath of the Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.
Students examine the effects of the terrorist attacks in 2001. In this lesson on discrimination and the dangers of stereotyping, students will expand their understanding of stereotyping in contemporary society and compare in to similar...
Curated OER
A Troubled Relationship
Young scholars discover information about Iran and Britain. In this current events lesson, students visit websites and listen to lectures to learn about Britain's Navy personnel that were taken hostage by Iran. Young scholars investigate...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Iranians
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Iranians. Gives basic facts about location, language, folklore, foods, social customs, family life, education, religion, pastimes, societal challenges, etc. (Note: Content...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Introduction to the Middle East
The term "Middle East" is generally recognized today to refer to a region that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to Afghanistan in the east. It encompasses the countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel,...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Iran
Provides an overview of the culture of Iran. Gives basic information on topics such as geography, ethnic makeup, languages, symbolism, economy, food, customs, social stratification, family life, education, religion, politics, etc. (Note:...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Basseri
The Basseri are traditional pastoral nomads who inhabit the Iranian province of Fars and migrate along the steppes and mountains near the town of Shiraz. The Basseri are a clearly delineated group, defined by political rather than by...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Persians
Persians are an ethnic group defined primarily by language and location. The Persian language, also known as Farsi, which linguists classify in the Indo-Iranian Branch of the Indo-European Language Family, had about 23 million speakers...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Iranian Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Iranian Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Jews of Iran
Until mass emigration began in 1948, Jews constituted one of the largest and longest-settled non-Muslim populations in Iran. Dispersed in every city and town in the country, Iranian Jews were almost always a minority except in a few...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Zoroastrians
The ethnic identity of this Iranian minority group is derived from their religion, Zoroastrianism. They constitute only 0.18 percent of the Iranian population. The term "Zoroastrian" is taken from the name of their prophet Zarathushtra...
Other
Encyclopaedia Iranica
Collaborative academic reference work, based at Columbia University, on all aspects of Iranian history and culture.
Other
Iransaga: Persian Calligraphy
Follow the development of Persian calligraphy on this interesting site. There are many hyperlinks to historical subjects in the Persian empire.
Other
Odyssey: Teacher Zone: Middle East: Iran Stay
This teaching unit is based upon a "teacher trek" to the area in 2000 and focuses on essential questions of community. Activities are offered to help students explore the religion and culture of this country. The plans are tied to...